Latest Flood Headlines

All the headlines from our Flood Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Should Worst-Flooded Areas Be Left After Superstorm Sandy?

Jan 23 2013 // Superstorm Sandy, one of the nation’s costliest natural disasters, is giving new urgency to an age-old debate about whether areas repeatedly damaged by storms should be rebuilt, or whether it might be cheaper in the...

Superstorm Sandy Challenges Definition of Basement in New Jersey

Jan 21 2013 // Irene Sobolov believes the first floor of her house in Hoboken, N.J., is just that. The federal government and her insurance company say it’s a basement.The semantics, Sobolov has learned, are very expensive. Sobolov...

N.J. Gov. Christie: Congress ‘a Little Late’ With Sandy Aid

Jan 18 2013 // New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the Hurricane Sandy aid package Congress approved Tuesday will help expedite rebuilding after the superstorm, but he poked federal lawmakers for being “a little late to the...

Kansas, Missouri Could Be Hit by Disaster Aid Fight

Jan 18 2013 // Midwesterners accustomed to generous government aid after ice storms, floods and tornadoes may soon have to look somewhere else for help when disaster strikes.Even as the U.S. House on Jan. 15 passed a $50.7 billion aid...

Floods Paralyze Indonesian Capital Jakarta; at Least 4 Die

Jan 18 2013 // Seasonal rains triggered massive flooding in Indonesia’s capital on Thursday, killing at least four people, triggering the evacuation of at least 20,000 and paralyzing much of the city.Floods regularly hit parts of...

Millions of Flood Relief Dollars Sit Untapped in Minnesota

Jan 15 2013 // Millions of dollars in relief loan money sit unclaimed more than six months after heavy flooding hit northeastern Minnesota.Most of the $12 million allocated by the Legislature for disaster loans to homeowners remains...

What FEMA’s Advisory Flood Maps Mean for New Jersey

Jan 14 2013 // Last month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency released advisory flood maps covering 194 municipalities in coastal areas in New Jersey. Here’s a look at what they mean, in question and answer form.Q. What do the...

Flood Walls for Subways: N.Y. Commission Urges Safeguards Against Future Storms

Jan 14 2013 // A commission formed to examine ways to guard against storms like Sandy released a report Jan. 11 that calls for flood walls in subways, water pumps at airports and sea barriers along the coast.The final report was first...

Parish in Louisiana Files New Charges in Hurricane Gustav Flood Appeal

Jan 14 2013 // Officials in Louisiana’s Livingston Parish claim lies, bungling and withholding of information are grounds for reversal of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to deny $46 million in waterway...

Sandy Victims Blast Delays in Flood Insurance Aid

Jan 14 2013 // Even as Congress passed the first part of an aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy, many victims seethed, wondering why it took so long.The $9.7 billion measure, approved on Jan. 4 and signed into law by President...

Readying for Sandy, New Jersey Transit Erred in Modeling Storm

Jan 13 2013 // New Jersey Transit incorrectly used federal government software that otherwise could have warned officials against a disastrous decision to leave hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment in a low-lying rail yard...

Governments Struggle with Financial Crisis as the Planet Warms up

Jan 11 2013 // The global economy has been through economic recessions before, and has eventually recovered from them. This time around, however, it must do so while coping with the ever increasing menace of climate change – that makes...

Right Street: A Plan for New York to Prepare for Catastrophes

Jan 8 2013 // New York State’s NYS 2100 Commission, created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to offer recommendations on ways to better prepare for natural disasters, is out with its initial report, including a...

After the Storm: Insurance Agents E&O Lessons Learned

Jan 8 2013 // More often than not, a second wave of claims against insurance agents by their clients follows a natural disaster.As parties find themselves without the coverage they expected after a catastrophe, it appears to be a...

Sandy Victims in N.J., N.Y., Blast Delays in Flood Insurance Aid

Jan 6 2013 // Even as Congress passed the first part of an aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy, many victims seethed, wondering why it took so long.The $9.7 billion measure approved on Friday, Jan. 4, allows the National Flood...

House, Senate OK $9.7B More for Flood Insurance Claims

Jan 4 2013 // The House of Representatives voted today 354-67 to increase the borrowing authority of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by $9.7 billion.The Senate, which already approved a similar increase but as part of a...

Yellowstone Oil Spill: Feds Say Delay Made Oil Spill Worse

Jan 4 2013 // Delays in Exxon Mobil Corp.’s response to a major pipeline break beneath Montana’s Yellowstone River made an oil spill far worse than it otherwise would have been, federal regulators said in a new report.The...

Kmart vs. Kroger Flooding Case Set for Trial in Mississippi

Jan 4 2013 // A federal judge has denied requests from the city of Corinth and the Kroger Co. to be dismissed as defendants in a lawsuit over 2010 flooding at the Kmart in Corinth.Kmart Corp. is seeking compensation for flood damage at...

Flood Insurance Funds Will Run Out Jan. 7 Without Congress OK: FEMA

Jan 3 2013 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), has notified Congress that without the approval of additional borrowing authority, funds available to pay...

House to Vote on Flood Insurance Funds on Friday; Sandy Aid Later

Jan 2 2013 // Under fire from fellow Republicans from Sandy-stricken New York and New Jersey, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, today agreed to hold two separate votes on storm relief including one vote on Friday to make about $9...